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Our country faces a test like never before, and journalism needs to rise to the challenge. If you can, please help us get to the $400,000 goal Mother Jones needs to keep going strong with a donation today.

Our country faces a test like never before, and journalism needs to rise to the challenge. If you can, please help us get to the $400,000 goal Mother Jones needs to keep going strong with a donation today.

Yes, This Really Is Only the 2nd Government Shutdown in Recent History

Here’s yet another in my series of quick reminders. Prior to 1980, everything kept on running pretty normally during budget impasses. True shutdowns didn’t happen until after a series of Justice Department rulings at the tail end of the Carter administration. Since then, there have been a handful of shutdowns prompted by garden variety disagreements over funding levels for defense and domestic programs, but they’ve been so brief as to be barely noticeable. The only exception was the long shutdown of 1995, prompted by Newt Gingrich’s demands.

So when you hear someone saying that there have been loads of government shutdowns in the past and this one is really nothing new, it just isn’t true. In practice, there’s only been one serious shutdown in recent history, and like this one, it was the product of Republican ultimatums.

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Dear Reader,

This feels like the most important fundraising drive since I've been CEO of Mother Jones, with staggeringly high stakes and so much uncertainty. In "News Is Just Like Waste Management," I try to unpack the reality we all face and how we can rise to the challenge. If you're able to, this is a critical moment to support Mother Jones’ nonprofit journalism: We need to raise $400,000 to help cover the vital reporting projects we have planned, and right now is no time to pull back.